It’s Your World And Not Mine

Girly “What If They Knew”

I think shoegaze is a very forgiving genre in that basic competence can provide satisfying results if you have any affinity for the aesthetic. Artists working in the genre don’t have to work very hard, but at this point, I sorta demand that they do. “What If They Knew” starts off in the “basic competence” zone but gradually builds a lattice of distinct, beautiful, and emotionally potent guitar parts. The vocals barely rise above a whisper, but the blaring accompaniment is like a flood of yearning desire. Girly nail one of the best shoegaze tricks – contrasting an outward shyness with the overwhelming emotions screaming beneath the surface.

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Jaymin “Wamu”

Seems a little perverse to give this incredibly sweet R&B song about committing to the love of your life a title spinning off a clever reference to Chase’s acquisition of Washington Mutual Bank in 2008, right? It’s a weird choice, but the song is so open-hearted and vulnerable that I get wanting to put up a little bit of distance with the listener. I mean, Jaymin is basically proposing to his girl in the lyrics!

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